Money Managers More Bullish on Bonds Than Stocks

Sixty-seven percent of asset managers surveyed by Russell Investments said corporate bonds look attractive, 61% are bullish on junk bonds, and 57% are optimistic about equities. This is the first time in five years that money managers have had a more favorable outlook on fixed income than on stocks.

And only 57% now believe that the stock market is undervalued, down from 72% who thought so in December. Among stocks, most managers have a more favorable outlook on growth (57%) than on value (42%). Within sectors of the stock market, the most popular is technology, cited by 62%, and the least popular is financial services, cited by only 30% asbeing a good investment.

The survey was conducted among 228 managers between Feb. 26 and March 6, when stock prices were plummeting.

Even though bond prices have fallen sharply in the past year due to investors’ fear about companies’ ability to pay back their debt, many money managers believe bonds are less risky than stocks.

“There’s an opportunity here to get what historically people would think of as equity-like returns with a little lower volatility,” Erik Ristuben, chief investment officer of Russell Investments, N.A., told The Wall Street Journal.